The present teachings are predicated upon providing improved removal of waste heat from a thermoelectric device. Current systems move air over a waste side of a thermoelectric device so that waste air is removed from the system. Removal of waste temperature using the flow of air is sufficient to create conditioned air. However, attempts have been made to use a liquid to cool the thermoelectric device to improve the removal of waste temperature (e.g., heat). These liquid tubes may burst and fluid may leak into a component such as a vehicle seat. The liquid tubes may further be subject to puncture or cutting by internal components of a vehicle seat and/or the installation process such that when the system is activated fluid may leak within the vehicle seat. Leaking of the fluid from the system may inhibit removal of waste heat from the system and operation of the system may be less than optimal and is undesirable to a user.
In addition, the liquid tubes may be kinked and/or crushed by movement of the seat, the occupant, or both so that fluid flow through the system is inhibited and/or prevented and the removal of waste heat is substantially reduced and/or prevented. Further, the liquid cooling systems have to be charged and/or filled at the assembly plant and/or during assembly so that the system may be installed and connected together during assembly. Due to the potential of leaking and decreased performance liquid cooling systems have not readily been used in automotive applications.
Examples of cooling of thermoelectric electric devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,226,994, 7,587,901, and 7,966,835; and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2012/0192574 and 2013/0059190; all of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes.
It would be attractive to have a closed loop liquid system that removes waste heat. It would be attractive to have a liquid loop that is integrated into and/or part of a housing for the climate control system. What is needed is a system that can be charged before installation so that the climate control system can be installed without the installer having to charge the system and/or fill the system during assembly. What is needed is a system that is free of a liquid connection and only includes an electrical connection.